Statehood
A resolution was passed and a draft bill was sent to the Centre.
In his 20-minute speech, the Delhi chief minister targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reminding him of the statehood promise he made while campaigning for the 2014 general election. BJP legislator and leader of opposition Vijender Gupta said the resolution was “political brinkmanship”. “If he (Kejriwal) was serious about the issue, he should have raised it in the Parliament through his MPS which is the right forum. But, his real intent behind bringing it up on completion of three years and four months is to divert public attention from his misgovernance, incompetence and failures,” he said.
During the proceedings to pass the resolution, Gupta and his party colleagues were marshalled out while another MLA Jagdish Pradhan staged a walkout, accusing the AAP government of having failed in its promise to bring a Jan Lokpal Bill. Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said the AAP government was raking up the issue to hide its failures. According to the chief minister, Delhi pays ₹1.3 lakh crore as taxes annually but gets only ₹325 crore in return. “States like Odisha pay ₹10,000 crore and get ₹40,000 crore from the Centre. We urge the centre to give us at least 30% of what we give,” he said, adding that if Delhi got ₹40,000 crore from Centre every year, every Delhi resident would have a house and a job.
Some experts argue that statehood may not be good for the national capital. “The demand for full statehood for Delhi has been carefully considered by experts for years and it will lead to major revenue losses for the state. Privileges that the citizens here enjoy will also be snatched away,” said Omesh Saigal, former Delhi chief secretary. Saigal said as a full state, Delhi would have to pay the salaries of police and other service employees, which at present are borne by the Centre.
The resolution by the Delhi government specifies that areas under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) be kept under the exclusive control of the central government. “Not just the NDMC areas, they will also have to exclude the area around the Red Fort because the Prime Minister unfurls the national flag there during Republic Day and also the airport as several foreign dignitaries visit. This will be a major revenue loss for the city as 80% of Delhi government’s revenue is generated from areas such as Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk and the offices on Barakhamba Road,” Saigal said. fraud at the Punjab National Bankofficials said on condition of anonymity.
Indian officials in London said a letter rogatory has been sent to British authorities by the CBI and Enforcement Directorate, seeking investigation and information on fugitive businessman Nirav Modi, who arrived in the UK before his Indian passport was revoked in February.
A formal response to the letter is awaited. New Delhi has not yet requested his extradition.
Home Office sources said no application for asylum has been submitted by Modi, who has family in the UK, but an expert legal team is said to be working on submitting one.
Williams assured Rijiju of Britain’s full cooperation in India’s efforts for the extradition of individuals such as Modi and beleaguered liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya, who is also wanted in connection with bank fraud charges.
“I had a very useful meeting with UK minister Baroness Williams. We discussed about India-uk joint efforts to deal with terrorism and extremism. We also agreed to cooperate in the matters of extradition and sharing of information,” Rijiju told reporters after the meeting.
Modi left India in January for an unknown location after being accused of being at the centre of the fraud involving the country’s second largest public lender. The 47-year-old and his uncle and business partner Mehul Choksi, who is also a diamond trader, allegedly diverted large sums of loan money to illegally invest in foreign-based firms.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had unsuccessfully approached the Interpol in March for an international arrest warrant for Nirav.
On Monday, a CBI spokesperson familiar with the matter said, “The agency has written to the Interpol to issue the notice, which would mean that the member countries of Interpol can arrest and extradite Nirav Modi and Choksi. The issuance of Red notice is under process.”
The ED is also in touch with the international agency, two sources said on condition of anonymity. Both agencies have already filed charge sheets in the PNB fraud case. Based on its charge sheet against Modi, the ED is expected to move court soon to seek permission for confiscating t he diamantaire’s assets and declare him a fugitive under provisions of the newly promulgated Fugitive Economic Offenders Ordinance.
Earlier reports had said there was speculation of Modi being in Hong Kong, the US and the UK. “the North Koreans did not promise what they said”.
The North, which has been subjected to increasingly strict sanctions by the UN Security Council and others, has made promises of change in the past, such as at the lengthy Six Party Talks process, only for the agreements to collapse later.
Trump and Kim will first meet one-on-one in a closed session, before a larger meeting with key advisers, the White House said.
The wider session will include National Security Advisor John Bolton, who nearly derailed the summit with hawkish comments about disarming North Korea.
Pompeo also signalled there would be more discussions to come, adding that Tuesday’s meeting “will set the framework for the hard work that will follow. We will see how far we get.”
In Seoul, President Moon Jae-in had a 40-minute phone call with Trump, after telling key aides that it could take “one year, two years or even longer to completely resolve the issues concerned”.
Tuesday’s summit is an extraordinary turnaround from last year, when Trump threatened the North with “fire and fury” and Kim dubbed him a “mentally deranged US dotard”, sending fears of conflict soaring.